Principal Engineer, Media Solution Architect
Harman · China
HARMAN’s engineers and designers are creative, purposeful and agile. As part of this team, you’ll combine your technical expertise with innovative ideas to help drive cutting-edge solutions in the car, enterprise and connected ecosystem. Every day, you will push the boundaries of creative design, and HARMAN is committed to providing you with the opportunities, innovative technologies and resources to build a successful career.
A Career at HARMAN
As a technology leader that is rapidly on the move, HARMAN is filled with people who are focused on making life better. Innovation, inclusivity and teamwork are a part of our DNA. When you add that to the challenges we take on and solve together, you’ll discover that at HARMAN you can grow, make a difference and be proud of the work you do everyday.
Introduction: A Career at HARMAN Automotive
We’re a global, multi-disciplinary team that’s putting the innovative power of technology to work and transforming tomorrow. At HARMAN Automotive, we give you the keys to fast-track your career.
- Engineer audio systems and integrated technology platforms that augment the driving experience
- Combine ingenuity, in-depth research, and a spirit of collaboration with design and engineering excellence
- Advance in-vehicle infotainment, safety, efficiency, and enjoyment
What You’ll Be Part Of
As a Media Solution Architect within HARMAN Automotive’s global Audio-Video-Media Entertainment Solution Architecture group, you will lead the architecture, requirements engineering, and technical roadmap for next-generation IVI, CDC, and CCU media platforms. You will act as the technical bridge between OEM and customer requirements, system architecture, and development, ensuring complex automotive software systems are scalable, maintainable, production ready, and aligned across Media, Audio, Video, and Tuner domains. You will partner with customers, third-party suppliers, program software architects, system architects, solution architects, development teams, system integration and validation teams, hardware and SoC platform teams, and product and program management. In this role, you will connect requirements, architecture, implementation, integration, validation, and release while providing technical leadership across multiple software domains and vehicle platforms.
How You’ll Make An Impact
- Own the end-to-end Media solution architecture and technical roadmap for IVI, CDC, and CCU platforms, covering USB Media, Bluetooth Media, Streaming Media, Cloud Media, Audio-Video, Tuner, media storage management, and related automotive entertainment solutions.
- Lead OEM and customer requirements analysis and decompose needs into clear, testable, unambiguous, and traceable Customer Requirements Specifications (CRS), System Requirements Specifications (SRS), and Technical Requirements Specifications (TRS).
- Ensure alignment and end-to-end traceability between requirements, architecture, implementation, verification, and release, resolving gaps, inconsistencies, conflicts, and change impacts across Infotainment, Cluster, ADAS, and CCU domains.
- Define and maintain scalable, modular, and reusable software architectures based on AOSP/AAOS Media Framework and embedded Linux, including MediaSession, MediaCodec, ExoPlayer, multimedia pipelines, hardware-accelerated codecs, HDMI, USB-C, RTP/RTSP, HLS, DASH, DLNA, HDCP, DRM, and media storage.
- Guide development, integration, system bring-up, validation, code reviews, design decisions, root-cause analysis, performance profiling, and optimization, using tools such as Perfetto, Systrace, and vendor tools to achieve feature completeness, quality, and production readiness.
- Drive architecture quality against platform constraints, including performance, boot-time, robustness, timing, safety, security, cockpit integration, and safe separation between Infotainment and Cluster workloads across multi-OS and multi-ECU systems.
- Oversee requirements-based test coverage, acceptance criteria, integration, vehicle testing, issue triage, and validation strategy while ensuring compliance with ASPICE at system and software levels.
- Serve as a key technical interface for OEM customers, third-party suppliers, engineering, product management, and program management; support RFQ/RFI responses, architecture reviews, customer discussions, trade-off decisions, technical risk mitigation, and cross-domain alignment.
What Makes You A Strong Fit
- A degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related field, with 10+ years of automotive embedded software experience and 5+ years of architecture experience in a Tier-1 or OEM environment.
- Expert-level knowledge of AOSP/AAOS Media Framework, including MediaSession, MediaCodec, and ExoPlayer, with strong Android Automotive and embedded Linux expertise.
- Proven experience designing Video and Media solutions for IVI, CDC, and CCU architectures, including USB Media, Bluetooth Media, Streaming Media, Cloud Media, DRM-protected playback, media storage, and OEM requirements such as BMW IVI/CDC requirements.
- Strong hands-on understanding of embedded Linux, Android Automotive, QNX, BSP, boot flow, SoC bring-up, hardware abstraction, automotive middleware and application stacks, service-oriented architecture, inter-process communication, and hardware-software interfaces.
- Deep knowledge of automotive multimedia technologies, including HDMI, USB-C, RTP/RTSP, HLS, DASH, DLNA, HDCP, DRM, audio and video codecs such as AAC, FLAC, MP3, H.264, H.265, and AV1, plus SoC hardware-accelerated codecs and multimedia pipelines.
- Solid experience in customer requirements analysis, CRS/SRS/TRS creation and maintenance, requirements traceability, change management, system integration, platform architecture, and tools such as DOORS or Polarion.
- Working-level understanding of Audio architecture, Video frameworks, Broadcast Tuner technologies including AM/FM/DAB/HD Radio, Automotive Ethernet, cockpit system integration, and cross-domain dependencies.
- Strong experience with ASPICE at system and software levels, architecture and requirements tools such as Cameo/MagicDraw, Capella, or Enterprise Architect, and the ability to make architecture implementable, testable, and verifiable.
- Strong ownership, execution, communication, and pragmatic problem-solving skills, with the ability to lead customer and cross-functional technical discussions, explain architectural decisions and trade-offs, and drive product readiness across large, multi-team, multi-ECU programs.
- We see AI as an important part of how work gets done. While tools may vary, a baseline familiarity with using AI to support efficiency, problem-solving, and quality is expected.
Bonus Points if You Have
- Experience with AOSP Audio, Video, and Media frameworks and audio-video processing for automotive infotainment systems.
- Experience with automotive networking and interfaces such as A2B, Automotive Ethernet, HDMI, and USB-C.
- Experience with Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) using Enterprise Architect, Cameo, or Capella.
- Experience designing or working with Central Compute Unit or domain-controller architectures, hypervisor-based systems, or multi-OS platforms running Android, Linux, and/or QNX.
- Experience with automotive multimedia systems—including audio pipelines, video pipelines, or camera systems—and large-scale embedded platforms involving multiple ECUs, software domains, Tier-1 suppliers, or OEM engineering teams.
Things To Know
- Eligibility requirements, including work location, employment authorization, travel expectations, and any other role-specific conditions, are to be confirmed.
- The role is part of a global engineering group and collaborates closely with customers and third-party suppliers, program software architects, system architects and other solution architects, software development teams, system integration and validation teams, hardware and SoC platform teams, product and program management, and OEM customer engineering teams.
What You Can Expect
- A hybrid work environment that balances flexibility with in-person collaboration, with most office-based roles onsite four days a week.
- Access to employee discounts on HARMAN products (including JBL, Harman / Kardon, AKG, and others)
- Learning and development opportunities through our award-winning HARMAN University programs
- Wellness benefits designed to support your overall well-being
- Access to the HARMAN campus fitness center and cafeteria, where available
- An inclusive and diverse work environment that supports both your professional and personal development
HARMAN is proud to be an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.